


ten things, one thing

by fictionalparadises



Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26327221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalparadises/pseuds/fictionalparadises
Summary: Ten times Cody didn’t really understand his feelings, and the one time he did.
Relationships: Cody Ko & Noel Miller, Cody Ko/Noel Miller
Comments: 8
Kudos: 95





	ten things, one thing

TEN THINGS

**i.**

Cody is running late for class.

That has to do with an array of things; he stayed up late last night to finish an assignment due midnight, he accidentally destroyed his alarm by shoving it off his nightstand while trying to hit snooze, he had to go back to get his laptop charger when he was already halfway out of the building, and on top of all that, it’s raining hard as shit.

Really, he’s trying not to slip while he’s running because the wet pavement and his converse aren’t the best of friends together—he learned that from experience. He doubts he’s making it on time now anyway, and he’d rather not eat shit and arrive to the lecture with a bleeding nose.

His phone buzzes in his backpack; undoubtedly Devon or Sam asking where he is. It’s only the third week of the school year, but Cody is a mess already. He’s just not used to the hectics of college and, well, he’s not the most prepared person on this earth, either.

By the time he reaches the right building, his sweater is soaked and his hair is dripping. His converse make weird squelching noises every time he takes a step and it makes his face scrunch up. God, he should’ve packed an extra hoodie or grabbed a jacket on his way out.

The professor, thank god, isn’t there yet. Cody spots Devon and Sam talking to someone he doesn’t know and he makes his way over to the three of them, grimacing at the sounds his shoes make.

“Cody!” Devon calls out, clapping him on the shoulder before looking at his hand in partial disgust. “Dude, you’re soaked. Didn’t you get my text?”

He shakes his head. “No time,” he says by way of explanation, though Sam and Devon know him well enough to understand that he’d once again been running late.

Sam shrugs and gestures to the stranger. “This is Noel,” he says, “I have a few other classes with him.”

Cody sticks out his hand, but not before wiping it on the single dry spot on his jeans. “Hey man. I’m Cody.”

“Noel,” Noel replies with a lopsided grin, shaking his hand. “How you doin’?”

He pointedly looks down to his clothes, half-gesturing towards it. “Could be better, I guess.” He’s sure that by the time this lecture ends, he’ll be cold and shivering in his soggy sweater and he can’t go back to his dorm until later this afternoon. Great.

“Hope you don’t get a cold, man,” Noel grins. Cody grimaces at the thought. “Oh, actually—if you want, I have a dry hoodie you can wear,” he says with a shrug.

The professor comes in and puts his bag down on the desk with a loud thud. The hushed conversations die down and the few people left standing take their seats, Cody having no choice but to sit next to Noel.

“I mean, uh, if you don’t mind?” Cody has barely met him five minutes ago and he’s already more helpful than his friends.

“Sure, I brought an extra,” Noel explains, shrugging again before he roots around his backpack and hands him a black hoodie. “It’s fine.”

“Thanks,” Cody smiles as he takes the shirt. “I really appreciate it.”

He gets out of his own sweater without getting tangled in the fabric, and when he put Noel’s hoodie on, it’s soft and a bit big on him, making him feel like he can drown in the safety and warmth of it. He settles back in the chair next to Noel, half-listening to the professor. Involuntarily, he smiles again.

**ii.**

Campus, Cody decides, is prettiest during fall. Not that he’s been around here long enough to know what the other seasons are like, but the trees create a colorful palette of orange and red, the on-campus coffee shops and stores put up string lights on every available inch of wall and students huddle together with steaming coffee cups in their gloved hands.

He doesn’t have that much time to enjoy the scenery, though, because he’s got a ton of deadlines coming up and he’ll be damned if he messes up his freshman year.

The wind rips on his clothes as Cody crosses to campus, collar tugged up and backpack straps tightened in his hands. The library isn’t too far away from his dorm, and he’s mainly just glad it’s not raining.

It’s quiet inside and the lady at the front desk greets him with a nod. He smiles back at her as he revels in the warmth of library and passes the desk, taking out his phone to look at which books he needs to find.

His fingers glide over the spines of the books while his eyes scan the titles.

When he’s found the two textbooks he needs, Cody turns on his heel to find a table, already thinking about what he should have for dinner tonight, if he’ll have time to watch another episode of that new tv-show he started and what he would do in the possible scenario of their heater breaking down.

His phone buzzing in his pocket shakes him from the train of thought and he takes it out, clumsily cradling the books in his arms while he reads a text from Sam and tries to type out an answer.

Cody smashes into someone, phone clattering on the floor, and when he looks up his eyes light up with recognition. “Oh, shit—hey, Noel, right?”

Noel picks up his phone and hands it back to him. “Yeah,” he replies with a faint grin. “You in a hurry or something?”

“You could say that,” Cody mutters. “I wasn’t really watching where I was going, sorry ‘bout that.”

Noel’s eyes crinkle in amusement and he shrugs casually. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Busy studying, I take?”

Cody rolls his eyes in exasperation. “Fuck’s sake, it’s unreal. I don’t think I’ll be getting any sleep this week.”

“Well, we’re in the same boat,” Noel grins, leaning against one of the wooden shelves. “Calculus is kicking my ass and I’m not enjoying it in the slightest.”

It’s quiet for a few seconds and despite it being a little awkward, Noel is looking at him with a certain curiosity in his eyes and he lets himself take in the man who’s standing in front of him, one ankle crossed over the other, arms folded in front of his chest and black shirt snug over his biceps. His hair is ruffled and there are faint bags underneath his eyes. Regardless, he looks bright.

Noel pushes off the shelf and jerks his chin towards a table on the other side of the aisle, where a few books are already stalled out and a laptop is charging. “C’mon, you can sit here. It’s the only nice spot around.”

Cody doesn’t know if that’s actually true but he doesn’t really have any objection to that, so he follows Noel and drops his books on the table.

Just the idea of having to write an essay about algorithms and data structures makes him want to pull his hair out and scream, but Noel calmly sits across of him, chin propped up on his hand, eyes trained on his computer screen. Having someone he doesn’t know very well sit with him boosts his motivation to actually do something because the least he wants Noel to think of him is that he’s lazy, so he reads a few chapters in the books he took along and writes like his life depends on it.

It’s quiet for most of the time, aside from fingers clicking on keyboards and pages being flipped. Every now and then, a sigh echoes through the air, coming from either Noel or Cody. The atmosphere is very easy and placid and Cody finds himself with his essay nearly done by the time he looks outside.

“Shit, it’s dark already?”

Noel’s head snaps up as well. “Huh. It’s nearly eight o’clock.”

“What?” Cody rubs his eyes and sighs, slamming one of the books in front of him shut. Noel leans back in his chair and stretches his arms, a few joints cracking. “Christ, I’m gonna jump straight into bed once I get home. At least I got some shit done, finally.”

Noel laughs. “Same. Both parts, I mean.” He talks a little about the calculus exercises he managed to make and the upcoming project he’s already stressing out about while they put away their books. The whipping wind is cold once they get outside and Noel mutters curses so creative that Cody’s stomach almost aches from laughing. It’s a nice change from sitting in silence the entire afternoon and evening, and Noel turns out not to be as reserved as he first thought.

“Hey, do you want some food from the corner store? I’m just gonna grab a sandwich, you want anything?” Noel asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Cody gives him a brief glance and smiles. “Sure. Sam isn’t the best cook, anyway.”

Noel laughs and leads him inside, pointing to the sandwiches he likes most—he ranks all of them from _I’d fight God with my bare hands for just one bite_ to _I’d rather eat cement_ , and Cody ends up just letting him pick a sandwich for him.

The gravel crunches under Cody’s feet as they walk towards his dorm building and he admits that the sandwich _is_ really good. Noel grins, eyes bright, and shrugs with an _I’m always right_.

“Oh, I still have your hoodie,” Cody says once they’re standing in front of the double doors, eyes widening in realization. “I can go get it right now, but I was going to wash it first.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Noel waves it off. “You can give it back some other time.”

Cody stuffs his hands in the front pocket of his sweater and rocks back on his heel, suppressing a smile. “Okay,” he says. “Thanks for this afternoon.”

Noel raises a brow. “You’re thanking me for studying together?”

He rolls his eyes, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks. “Thanks for the sandwich, dickhead.”

Noel lets out a loud laugh, one where he throws his head back and his hand shoots to his tummy. “I’m just fucking with you, man. For the record, I enjoyed your company as well. And you’re welcome, it was nothing. I’m always eager to share my sandwich wisdom with others.”

Cody elbows him in the side. “I’m choosing the food next time. If you want some good ramen, I’m your guy.”

It’s quiet for a second, Noel tilting his head and looking at him with a certain look in his eyes Cody can’t quite decipher. “Deal,” he then says, shouldering his backpack and taking a step backwards. “I’ll see you around?”

“Sure,” Cody calls after him. He waves before he turns around and enters the building. When he’s lying in his bed a few minutes later, ignoring Sam’s curious looks about where he’d been the entire evening, he wraps himself in the covers and hides a smile.

He’s not entirely sure why he’s not telling Sam about who he was with. Maybe he wants to keep that to himself, just for now, and he’s not really lying about anything, is he?

Cody turns on his side and stares at the slight dent in the wall. This day wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and it certainly wasn’t as bad as he expected it to be.

**iii.**

There’s shitty music playing in the frat house when Cody enters through the front door, and the hallway is crowded. He pushes through the people—why the hell are they even standing here, of all places? —and follows Devon to the kitchen. He gets a red solo cup with watered down beer pressed into his hands and so begins the night, where he’ll have to pretend like he’s enjoying everyone’s company, like the beer isn’t actually as disgusting as it truly is, like he couldn’t have been lying in bed with his laptop, rolled in a blanket and a plate of peanut butter cookies next to him.

He didn’t even want to come to the party in the first place. It’s just that socializing is kind of important (“Frat parties are part of the college experience. C’mon, man!”) and that he’s always been bad at saying no to Sam.

Cody had been grumpy the entire afternoon, trying to find excuses not to come along but coming up with none. “Okay, at least tell me who’s coming to this thing,” he’d grumbled at one point.

Sam had clapped his hands in victory. “Oh, uh… Victoria Moore, Finn Martin, I think Ezra from Computer Networks is coming—”

“People I _know_ , Sam.”

Sam had rolled his eyes, only half-annoyed. “Kelsey’s coming. And Noel Miller, too. You’ve met him a few times, I think.”

It had been an effort of will not to show his surprise at that. “Okay, fine. I’ll come.”

“Great,” Sam had grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re leaving at ten.”

And that’s how he got here, not even trying to look like he’s having a good time. He’s spotted Kelsey walking around the living room but she’d disappeared before he could get her attention, so he’s still leaning against the kitchen counter, eyes roaming around the room.

Then he sees Noel, coming from the hallway, a sour expression on his face as he forces himself through the horde of people. He catches his gaze and exaggerates the sour look, finally making it through and walking over to Cody.

“Cody!” Noel grabs his shoulder, giving him a slightly awkward half-hug but Cody leans into it anyway, grinning right back at him.

“Hey man, what’s up?” He wouldn’t admit for the life of him, but he’d actually kind of looked forward to seeing Noel.

“I suppose I should be asking you that,” Noel says with a pointed look to his face. “You look like you’re having the time of your life.”

He grimaces. “It’s that obvious?”

Noel laughs loudly. “Yeah, I’m not a big fan of these kinds of parties, but they’re fun every once in a while.” He looks at the beer in Cody’s cup with a scrunched up nose, then he looks around. “Hey, you wanna go outside? ‘M gonna go smoke,” he says like it’s the most normal thing in the word and he already turns around to leave.

Cody grabs his wrist, spinning him right back around. “You smoke?” He asks incredulously. Noel doesn’t really seems like the type, or well, maybe he does—

“What? No, I meant a joint. Man, I didn’t know you thought so low of me,” he grins teasingly and Cody lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh, we don’t have to go outside, by the way, if it makes you uncomfortable. We can stay here, I’ll just do it later—”

“No.” Cody shakes his head. He could use a joint right now. “I’m down, let’s go.”

But instead of going to the backyard, Noel leads him upstairs.

It turns out that Noel knows half of the people in this damn house. He politely greets all of them but cuts the conversations short after introducing Cody, tugging on his sleeve as a signal to follow after him, and they end up in someone’s bedroom. Noel slides open the window and wriggles through the frame until he’s standing on the roof.

“If you trip and fall, I’ll tell you right now that I don’t know first aid for the life of me,” Cody says, apprehensively coming after him. Noel extends a hand to steady him before pointing to a spot next to the chimney.

“I’m not gonna trip and fall.”

“So, uh…” Cody starts, wondering what the hell they’re doing. “You do this often?”

“No,” Noel turns to him with a grin, sitting down and pulling his knees up before getting the joint from inside his jacket. “I just didn’t think it’d be much appreciated if we smoked a joint in the garden.”

“I don’t think it’s much appreciated that we’re smoking a joint here, in general. I think that’s against the fraternity rules. Or whatever rules apply here.”

Noel lights the joint, the paper burning gently like dying embers in a fireplace, and he inhales deeply. When he exhales, the smoke is a sliver of grey against the black of the night. They both watch until it disappears, then Noel hands him the joint.

Cody hasn’t smoked in forever. He’s just been too busy with classes and deadlines and whatnot for the past week, and if he’s honest with himself, he’s barely enjoying college like this. Obviously, college like you see it in the movies is a myth and he knew that before he even got accepted, but in reality it’s an ever bigger disappointment than he expected.

But at least he’s sitting next to Noel on a rooftop smoking weed in the middle of November, and he feels surprisingly content. He sighs deeply, silver smoke curling in the air.

“You alright?” Noel asks, leaning back on the roof and giving him a sidelong glance.

Cody shrugs. “I suppose.”

“Doesn’t sound too convincing if you ask me.”

He lets out a laugh and listens to the faint music coming from inside the house before he speaks up. “I don’t know. College is just a bit much. My concentration is just lacking whenever I try to study, but I’ll die if I fail a test.”

Noel nods slowly. “Anxiety. Yeah, it’s been kicking my ass too.”

He almost chokes on the smoke in his lungs at that. He didn’t expect Noel to be so straightforward about it, but Cody supposes he’s got a point.

“Enough about college though, Cody Kolodziejzyk,” Noel says as he plucks the joint from between Cody’s lips and places it between his own. Then he folds his head behind his head, leans back and assesses him with an amused, almost curious look in his eyes. Cody isn’t sure why he’s almost breathless after hearing Noel say his full name. “I want to know about you.”

Cody chuckles, not really sure how to reply to that. To say he’s intimidated by him is an understatement, but he’s intrigued most of all. From the very first time they met in September, Cody knew that Noel was the kind of guy he’d want to be friends with. Just the very air around him seems to be different. “What d’you wanna know?”

“Tell me something most people don’t know about you.”

He chokes out a laugh. “You trying to send me into an existential crisis or something?”

Noel tilts his head. “No. I just think you’re an interesting person.”

It might be the weed, but his cheeks burn. “I, uh—I’m good at surfing.” Instantly, he regrets the words. Noel asks him to say something most people don’t know about him and the first thing he says is _I like to surf_ like the dumbass he is. God, he should’ve just shut up.

But Noel’s eyes light up. “Really? That’s so cool,” he grins and he taps his hand against Cody’s shoulder. “You gotta teach me one day, man.”

“You serious?” Cody asks, a faint smile breaking through on his face.

“Yeah, bro.” Noel leans back again, settling against the slanted roof, and looks up to the sky. “I like the sea. It’s kinda scary, but I like it nonetheless. Just the mysteriousness of it, y’know?”

Cody nods, only half-getting what Noel is saying as he goes on about why he likes the sea, staring at him from the corner of his eye.

Cody is halfway through one of his surfing stories when there’s a loud slam coming from the window and Noel presses a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

Two sets of footsteps shuffle through the bedroom, there’s laughing and the scuffling of clothes and the sound of a mattress dipping. The footsteps don’t near the window.

“It’s fine, we can stay here,” Noel reassures him.

Cody pries Noel’s hands from his mouth, eyes wide. “No way. What if they’re going to have sex in there? I’m not listening to that.”

“I’m pretty sure they won’t,” Noel rolls his eyes, but then there’s the very clear sound of clothes being thrown on the floor and he chokes on a breath. “Okay, maybe they will. Come on, time to go.”

“What!” Cody half whispers, half yells, “You wanna go through that bedroom?”

“Do you have any other plan?” He replies, folding his arms, stopping mid-crouch to look at Cody.

“What if they’re already naked?”

Noel winks. “I’m pretty sure you’ve seen naked girls before, Cody, you can’t fool me.” Then he turns and kicks open the window, slipping through the frame. A loud shriek echoes through the air and Cody huffs out a breath before following after him.

“Sorry! Coming through, excuse me!” Noel calls out, pointedly not looking at the couple on the bed and waving over Cody. Once he’s close enough, Noel grabs his sleeve and pulls him along.

When Cody slams the bedroom door shut after them and leans his back against it, he looks at Noel, who’s doubled over, hands on his knees, staring back with a shit-eating grin on his face and light brighter than the sun in his eyes.

“I’m never doing that again.”

Noel lets out a loud laugh, then straightens and squeezes Cody’s shoulder. “We’ll see about that.”

**iv.**

The bell jingles when Cody enters the corner cafe. He shivers, happy to be inside again, and his gaze flits around the room until they land on Noel, who’s already looking at him with a charming grin and waves him over the moment they lock eyes.

“Hey, man,” he greets him as he walks to the table, shrugging off his coat.

Noel gets up from the bench and pulls him into a hug, surprising him at first but then Cody melts into it, the hint of a grin on his face. “Thanks for wanting to meet up, dude.”

“Of course,” Cody says. He sits down and takes a few textbooks out of his backpack, accidentally slamming them down a little too hard and he grimaces. “Everything okay?”

Noel shrugs. “Yeah, I just need someone to kick my ass if I try to procrastinate, and it turns out I’m way more productive whenever I study with you.”

This time, Cody doesn’t even bother to hide his smile. “I’m honored,” he grins, pushing himself out of the chair. “Since we moved from the library to a cafe, you want anything to drink?”

He orders two caramel macchiatos, decaf for Noel, and when he returns to their table, balancing two mugs in his hand, Noel is watching him, chin resting on his hand.

“Now get your ass to studying,” Cody says as he sets the ceramics down.

Noel rolls his eyes but obeys, softly thanking him before he focuses on his notes.

He’d be lying if he says he wasn’t surprised after receiving a message from Noel, asking him if he wanted to meet up in a coffee shop. They’ve studied together more than once, but that was always in the library. It’s never felt so intimate before, but it’s nice, he decides.

It’s nice to sneak glances at Noel every now and then, watch as his brows furrow whenever he reads something he doesn’t understand, to watch the frown fade when he solves it. He thinks it’s cute the way his lips part when he highlights something or the way he chews on the back of his pen when he focuses really hard.

Cody tries not to get too distracted.

Tries to concentrate even when Noel shifts and their knees bump together, only for Noel to just let his thigh rest against his. Tries not to blush when he can feel Noel staring.

In the end, he gets work done. It’s only a fraction of what he wanted to do.

**v.**

It’s a Friday night, but it sure doesn’t feel like one. Cody is sitting behind his desk, holed up in his dorm, the blinds closed and a single lamp switched on. Sam is out with Devon and Kelsey and had tried to convince him to come along, but with three weeks left until winter break, Cody would rather get some work done and go to bed early instead of drinking himself into oblivion. He hadn’t felt like going out, anyways.

It’s way too cold outside—it hasn’t snowed yet, but he’s pretty sure that the entire campus will be covered in a layer of white by next week. He’s not really looking forward to it, and he’s certainly not looking forward to having to trudge through the snow with his converse.

A loud pounding on the door scares the life out of him and he presses a hand to his heart, glancing at the clock.

When he opens the door, Noel’s standing in front of it, wearing an army green jacket and deep blue jeans. His head snaps up when the door clicks, a grin cracking on his face.

“Hey.”

“Uh, hey,” Cody says, a little confused. “Sam went out, if you were looking for him—”

“What? No,” Noel frowns, pushing through the doorway and entering his dorm. “I heard you were still here because you didn’t wanna go out tonight, and I came to see if you’d changed your mind.”

Noel came here to ask if he wanted to come to the party?

“Uh—” is all he manages to get out. His mind has short-circuited and decided to shut down completely. The idea of going out is pretty tempting now, but he’s wearing glasses, a hoodie and sweatpants and he doesn’t feel like changing. With Noel standing in front of him, he feels ridiculously underdressed. “I really appreciated it, but I don’t think—I don’t, uh…”

Noel waits for him to finish the sentence. When he doesn’t, he lets out a laugh. “It’s okay, man. I get it. To be honest, I didn’t think your answer would change, but hey, I wanted to give it a shot anyway.”

Blood rushes to his cheeks. It’s almost embarrassing how well Noel knows him.

“I promise I’ll go out with you some other time,” he says because he can’t think of anything else to say. He doesn’t fully realize his word choice until they’re out of his mouth.

Noel’s grin widens at that and he pulls something out of his pocket. “I brought you something, because I didn’t think you’d wanna come—which is completely fine, of course—so yeah, here.” He takes Cody’s hand and puts a flash drive in it before gently making him close his fingers around it. “This is the best movie to ever exist. Ever. Trust me. So if you need a break from writing your essay or reading your notes or whatever tonight, keep that in mind.”

Cody, once again, can’t think of anything to say. Maybe he’s lost his ability to speak entirely.

Noel opens the door to leave but turns back in the door post. “And I’m gonna have to take up on that offer some time soon,” he says. Then he’s out the door.

Cody doesn’t really know what it means that Noel winked at him and he doesn’t really know what it means that his skin is practically burning, still is even two hours after Noel’s left.

**vi.**

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, two books pressed to his chest with his right arm and a plastic bag that contains Chinese take-out in his left hand, Cody fumbles to get his keys in the lock. After struggling not to drop anything, he kicks open the door.

He’s just hurled his books and backpack on his bed and gently set down the food on his desk, and when he turns around to close to the door, Noel’s head pops through the doorpost.

“Jesus Christ,” Cody curses, one hand on his heart.

Noel grins. “Nah, just me.”

“You scared the living shit out of me,” he scolds with a frown, but he still waits for Noel to come in before he closes the door. “What’s up?”

“Sam and I got paired for a project for Linear Algebra,” Noel says as he flops down on Cody’s bed. He looks more tired than Cody has probably seen him ever, bags under his eyes and cheeks pale. “We were going to work on that tonight, but he didn’t show up at the library, and then I thought he maybe expected us to meet up at his dorm.”

Cody checks his phone. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be here in a minute. But yeah… Sam’s never been one for punctuality.”

“Worse than you?” Noel asks, a grin evident in his voice.

Cody whips around from where he’s standing in front of his desk. “I was going to offer you some of my fried rice, but you just ruined that option.”

Noel rolls his eyes, pushing Cody’s backpack to the floor before stretching across the bed. “I already had dinner, bitch.”

“Sure you did,” he replies, shaking his head as he sits down behind the desk. He has no doubt that Noel will change his mind a minute, but then again, he doesn’t really mind sharing his food with him.

“What’re you workin’ on?” Noel asks from where he’s lying on Cody’s bed.

“Oh, just this project for my computer networks class,” he says absent-mindedly as he opens his laptop. His fingers fly across the keyboard to open a few tabs and his eyes are glued to the screen while he opens the container of take-out, breaking the chopsticks into two and eating carefully as not to spill rice all over his computer. “What’s your project with Sam on?” He asks after a few minutes.

Cody only gets a long sigh in response.

“That bad, huh?” He laughs. He sticks the chopstick vertically in the fried rice and picks up the container, turning in his chair. “Hey, you want some of—”

Noel is asleep on his bed, mouth slightly agape, head resting on a folded arm, face relaxed into neutral features. Cody stops talking mid-way through his sentence.

He puts down the food and shoots Sam a quick message that he doesn’t need to hurry. _I don’t think you’ll be working on that project tonight anyway, by the looks of it,_ he sends immediately after.

Then he turns around and tries to focus on his laptop, but he can’t really help the fact that his gaze wanders to where Noel is peacefully sleeping on _his_ bed of all places every two minutes.

It’s around twelve that he gets a reply from Sam saying he’ll be sleeping over at his girlfriend’s apartment off-campus. Cody contemplates waking up Noel to ask if he wouldn’t rather go to his own dorm, but he looks like he needs the sleep and it’s not as though Cody minds him being here.

And if he lets Noel spend the rest of the night in his bed while he sleeps in Sam’s, or at least tries to because he can barely close his eyes when Noel is right there, a sight to behold, it might just be for his own selfish reasons.

**vii.**

Winter on campus is pretty, but it doesn’t compare to the winters in his hometown in Canada. That’s why he’s glad he gets to spend Christmas at home with his family, a huge tree in the middle of their living room, wreath on the front door and string lights wrapped around the handrail of the stairs. He gets to know his sister’s fiancé a little better and takes walks through the snow with his parents, telling them about the past months of college.

He finds some time to catch up with his high school friends, has some drinks with them at a local bar and laughs, but it doesn’t really feel the same. It’s almost artificial—he missed his friends, but he’s grown in his time away and he’s done that without them. Now he has Sam and Devon and Kelsey, and most importantly Noel, who he misses surprisingly much.

Occasionally he’ll be sitting at dinner with his family and think of some inappropriate joke, and then he has to restrain himself to not get his phone out and text Noel.

Cody isn’t entirely sure what Noel was going to do during winter break. Going home, he’d said that much, and _sleep for thirty hours straight_. But apart from that, he either didn’t have plans or just kept it to himself.

On Christmas Eve, he contemplates sending Noel a message but decides against it. Instead, he spends the night with his family and eats pecan pie until he’s nauseous. When he’s lying in his bed a few hours later, cheeks still warm from sitting by the fire, he stares at the ceiling and wonders why he’s kind of looking forward to going back to school.

He spends Christmas Day in his sweats, doing nothing the entire day. He’s splayed on the couch after dinner, his aunts and uncles having just left, phone in his hand. After mulling it over for a considerable amount of time, he sends Noel a screenshot of a coupon for a free sandwich from the corner store he received via email.

 _Got you a special Christmas gift_ , he sends.

He doesn’t expect to get a reply soon—Noel’s never been a fast texter, if he’s honest—and stumbles up the stairs to retrieve his laptop from his room.

Cody has just plopped down on the couch when his phone lights up from an incoming call; Noel. His heart skips a beat and he has to take a deep breath before he slides it to the left.

“Hello?”

“Hey, man,” Noel says. His voice sounds a bit robotic through the line, but the grin in his tone is unmistakably there and Cody can picture the exact image in his mind.

“What’s up?” Cody asks, pressing the phone closer to his ear while he crosses his legs on the couch.

“Nothing,” Noel replies, “Just thought I’d call you to see how you were doing.” There’s the shuffling of blankets in the background. “I don’t really have a thing for the holidays, but uh, yeah—merry Christmas, Cody.”

He smiles so bright it nearly hurts his cheeks. “Merry Christmas, Noel.” He bites on his lower lip. “So, you’re happy with your present, then?”

Noel bursts out laughing. “Man, that was the best thing to happen to me all week. I’d kill for a sandwich from the corner store right now.”

“What! You’re at home and you’re telling me you’d rather eat a supermarket sandwich?”

“Okay, I’m exaggerating,” Noel huffs out, “my mom is actually a great cook. But still.”

Cody rolls his eyes, even if he knows Noel won’t be able to see it. “You said you don’t like the holidays, but your name literally means Christmas. How did _that_ happen?”

Noel snorts. “You taking it personally that I don’t like Christmas, pretty boy?” When Cody doesn’t reply—not because he doesn’t want to, it’s more that he’s literally incapable of doing so after those last words—Noel says, “it’s just so much bullshit all the time. I want a nice dinner with my family, but no, I gotta entertain my nephews for three fucking hours and help in the kitchen until my legs are sore.”

“You’ve obviously never spent a Christmas at my house,” Cody says with a faint smile. “You still need to help in the kitchen, but there’s less entertaining kids and more eating.”

Noel is quiet for a moment, then he grumbles, “Lucky son of a bitch.”

“Or maybe it’s just because you’re shit at cooking?”

“Like you’re a much better cook than me,” Noel defends himself. Cody can practically see the expression on his face right now, eyebrow raised in challenge, the hint of a smirk around his lips.

Cody sits back on the couch. “I’m actually great at cooking, thank you very much. Just not in my dorm.”

“Seeing is believing,” Noel says almost triumphantly, and Cody suspects that this might have been the easiest trap he’s ever walked into. “I’m gonna take up on that.” His cheeks burn.

They talk until one in the morning. Eventually, Noel falls asleep, and Cody finds it hard not to picture him like he was asleep on his bed three weeks ago, mouth slightly agape and softly snoring. He ends the call and jumps straight into his own bed, pushing his phone underneath his pillow and propping up a hand under his head. He can’t stop smiling up to the ceiling. 

This was not how he expected Christmas Day to go this year. He’s really glad it did, though.

**viii.**

It’s about ten in the morning and class has never been so boring before. His professor is explaining something about software and date structures and Cody has barely slept at all last night, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he nearly falls asleep halfway during the lecture. His eyelids are drooping and he has to put in an effort not to make his head drop.

Cody is so disconnected from reality that he doesn’t notice the small wads of paper being thrown his way until one hits him right in the eye. Startled, he snaps up, hand slamming against his desk loudly. He lets out a pained hiss and turns around to find Noel staring at him with a hand pressed against his mouth to keep in a laugh.

He rolls his eyes but takes the ball of paper from where it has fallen next to his feet and unfolds it.

_Why aren’t you answering your phone?_

For a moment, he wonders what the hell he’s doing, then he decides he shouldn’t care and writes back, _it’s dead, forgot to charge it last night_.

He watches as Noel reads the note and shakes his head, before he hastily scribbles something and throws it back. _Looks like you forgot to sleep last night, too_.

_Aren’t we all running on sleep deprivation and caffeine here?_

_Yeah, but you’re the extreme_.

Cody makes it a point to deadpan to Noel at that. Noel just stares back with that grin of his and that makes it difficult to keep a straight face.

_I’ll take that as a compliment._

_You shouldn’t,_ Noel writes back, _you should sleep more_.

_You’ll have to take that up with my professors, I tragically don’t have a say in the matter._

_Alright who do I have to beat up?_

_When he offers to throw hands with your professors for you <33_

Noel raises his brows in something of a challenge as he flicks the now full note back. _Shut up dude I’m serious, if I have to force you to sleep in my bed I will_

Cody tears of a piece of his notebook, hoping his cheeks don’t burn. _Are you saying you’re gonna fight me?_

Their exchange of notes earns them more agitated glances every time they throw a piece of paper toward each other, but no one says anything of it. Cody suspects it’s because of the way Noel glares back to them.

_If I have to, yes._

_Just to clarify, you’re fighting me so I’ll sleep in your bed?_

Cody sneaks a glance at Noel while he waits for him to write a reply. Noel can barely contain a grin as his pen flies across the paper.

_Obviously_

_My bed will do just fine, thanks_ , he writes back, though he supposes he wouldn’t really have anything against it. Objectively speaking, of course.

 _Oh I know_ , is the last thing that fits onto the paper. The lecture ends right as Cody reads the note, and he’s not sure why, but he smooths out the paper and puts it in between one of his books before stuffing it into his backpack.

**ix.**

“Dude, I’m so fucking nervous,” Cody groans. He’s sitting behind his desk, flash cards in his hands, laptop in front of him, phone lying next to it on speaker.

“You’re gonna be fine, man,” Noel says on the other side of the line. “You’ve been working on this presentation for, what, a month? Longer?”

“I know, but…” Cody sighs, letting his head hang. Really, he’s just being overdramatic and he called Noel to whine about this presentation, which isn’t fair, but he hasn’t seen Noel all day and yesterday was too busy for that too and he guess he just missed his voice. “It’s just—I have to present this all on my own, y’know? In front of a ton of people. What if I mess up? Or pronounce something in a weird way? I’m literally shitting my pants for it.”

“Cody,” Noel sighs. “You’re a genius, you can talk your way out of pretty much everything, you have enough charm to dazzle everyone in the room. Just use that smile of yours and you’ll be completely fine.”

“I—okay, you’re right. I’m overthinking this way too much. I can do this,” he says, though that last bit is more to himself than to Noel. “I’ll stop bothering you now, I’ll go rehearse this one more time.”

“You’re never bothering me,” Noel says in an almost chiding tone. “And Cody?” he says right before he hangs up the phone. “Get some sleep.”

———

“…and that brings us to the end. I’d like to thank you for your time and attention today.” With that, Cody lets out a relieved sigh. Granted, his presentation went a lot better than he expected and he’d obviously been overreacting yesterday, but his legs still feel shaky as he stands in front of the audience. He’s always hated giving presentations and he’s mainly just glad it’s over, whether he’ll get a good grade or not.

His professor gives him some feedback and compliments him on a few things as well. She’s in the middle of one of her bullet points when Cody’s gaze drifts across the room until they land on a grinning figure leaning in the doorpost, one ankle crossed over the other, hands stuffed in his pockets. Noel winks at him from where he’s standing right out of his professor’s view.

Cody’s cheeks heat up and he half-heartedly listens to the remainder of his professor’s compliments, waits until she’s finished and nods at him to leave. Then he’s bolting out of the door.

Noel claps him on the back before wrapping his arm around his shoulder and pulling him into his side. “I told you it would be fine!” He grins.

Cody isn’t really able to get a coherent sentence out. “Thanks, man. Were you standing there the entire time?”

“Yeah. You sounded real smart, talking about artificial intelligence and mathematical optimization and all that.”

He rolls his eyes, walking alongside Noel, who has regretfully let him go, but their shoulders bump together with every step they take. “I know, right. Tragically there aren’t many people who agree with _intelligence is the new sexy_.”

“Oh, I very much agree,” Noel casually drops, and Cody’s stomach goes all into knots for reasons he doesn’t understand.

“Hey, didn’t you have a linear algebra class this period?” He says in attempt to change the subject.

Noel shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s whatever. Had to go see you ace your presentation, right?”

This time, Cody doesn’t even try to hide his smile. He full on beams as he playfully elbows Noel in the side. “I really appreciate it. Seriously, it means a lot.”

“Of course,” Noel says, then he grins. “You hungry?”

Cody rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. “The corner store it is.”

**x.**

Cody wakes up on Saturday morning with a killer headache. It takes him a few seconds to realize where he is, what happened yesterday and why he feels like absolute shit.

Sam is still asleep in the bed on the other side of the dorm, hair tousled from last night and still half-dressed under the covers.

Desperate for some water, Cody kicks back the covers and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. He immediately regrets that decision, hand flying to his head as if it’ll take away the pulsating ache in his head. God, he’s never drinking again.

He shuffles his way to his desk and snatches the water bottle, his steps still a bit wobbly and uneven.

It’s surprising how much he remembers from the party last night, but that’s mainly the evening. It’s just a blur after twelve and his lights went out around three. He can’t remember if he walked home with Noel, or if that was with Sam. He might have kissed someone, but he doesn’t really know for sure.

With a groan, he drops in the chair, forcing himself to drink some water. He’s nauseous but also hungry, though just the thought of food makes his body recoil. He needs to pee but he doesn’t really trust himself enough to make it to the restroom and back, so instead he drops back into bed and pulls his pillow over his head.

Maybe another hour of sleep will help.

———

He doesn’t see Noel again until Friday. That’s new.

It’s pretty unusual for them to not see each other for so long, there’s nearly always a moment where they run into one another, whether it’s Noel walking him to class or Cody secretly dropping off a sandwich in the library. There’s a study session or a coffee break at least once a week, just the two of them with a ton of textbooks or four empty cups stacked on top of each other.

Cody isn’t sure what has happened. Noel hasn’t really been replying to his texts, all he’s gotten are half-assed responses.

When he sees Noel on Friday, he wants to ask about it, but Noel grins and claps him on the shoulder and the thoughts are forgotten. Instead he says something along the lines of _I missed drinking caramel macchiatos without someone judging me for it this week_ , and there’s no real bite to it, mainly a little curiosity and misplaced hurt of which he’s not sure where it’s coming from. 

Noel laughs. “Sorry, man. Was really busy this week.”

Reasonable. He suddenly feels stupid for thinking of anything else.

They go out for drinks with a group. Cody can’t deny it doesn’t sting a little that Noel doesn’t sit next to him, but Devon takes up that seat and tells him lame jokes that make him laugh nonetheless. He keeps it to one beer, already forgoing his plan of never drinking again but still sticking to the low. He’s only slightly awkward with the few people he doesn’t know, listens to Kelsey as she tells animated stories and flicks his eyes to Noel every now and then, who seems to be in deep conversation with the two people next to him.

When Cody returns from the toilet, he has no other choice but to sit next to a girl with black hair and strikingly blue eyes, and he strikes up a conversation with her.

In the end, she turns out to be really nice. They talk about college and friends and the most annoying people from school, from students to librarians to teachers.

Noel leaves pretty early, somewhere around ten, muttering something about having to get up at the ass crack of dawn the next morning. He’s gone before Cody has a chance to talk to him.

If it’s disappointment curling in his stomach, he ignores it.

———

He doesn’t see Noel for another week and wonders what the fuck he’s done wrong. Then Noel stops replying to his texts altogether, and Cody’s mood worsens by the day.

He’s sulking in the library one day, hoping to run into Noel there. He only finds Sam, brow furrowed in concentration as he’s hunched over his notes.

“He’s avoiding me,” Cody complains as he drops in the chair opposite of him.

Sam looks up, obviously agitated to be interrupted, but he leans back in his chair and folds his arms. “Who?”

“Noel.”

“Why would Noel be avoiding you?” Sam asks, raising his brows.

Cody rolls his eyes. “You tell me! He was acting strange last week, brushed it off as being busy for school. But then he’s been ignoring me all week, so something is up with him. I literally don’t know what’s happened. It’s just been downhill ever since that fucking party.”

“Yeah, obviously,” Sam says, leaning forward and resting his lower arms on the table. “Did you talk about it?”

He frowns. “About what?”

Sam stares at him for a few seconds as if he’s gone insane.

Cody squirms under his gaze. “Talked about _what_ , Sam?”

“Dude, you don’t fucking remember? I—you’re fucking with me, right?”

“What! I literally don’t know what you’re talking about! If this is a joke, it’s not funny, man,” Cody calls out, irritated, and throws his hands up to emphasize his point.

Sam’s eyes widen and he rushes to get his phone out of his pocket, unlocking the screen and hastily scrolling through his messages. Then he drops his phone in front of Cody, who reads the texts in confusion.  
  


**Noel** | _2:16 am_  
dude it happened  
  


**Sam** | _2:17 am_  
Wht  
What  
  


**Noel** | _2:17 am_  
i fnially told him how i feel!!  
he’s a good kisser i can confrm  
but dont tell any1 i said tht  
  


“I kissed Noel?” Cody says in disbelief, slowly raising his gaze to Sam, who just shrugs.

“I think you did, man.”

Vaguely, a memory starts to unravel from the clutter in his mind. Talking to Noel, the music being too loud to properly hear him, fingers tight around his wrist as they stumbled up the stairs to find somewhere quieter. Noel looking irrationally pretty that night, eyes glimmering in the yellow light of the bathroom, his hair curling more than usual, the skin around his eyes creasing from the smile that he wore non-stop. Sharing the contents of a red solo cup on the window sill until it was empty, Noel fidgeting with his fingers until Cody grabbed his hand to stop him.

“You okay?” He’d asked, words dragged out. “Tell me what’s on your mind. Penny for a thought?”

Noel had looked at him for a long moment, then said, “I like you. A lot. And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Why should you do anything about it?”

“Because I don’t think you like me back. At least not in the way I like you.”

Cody had stared at him, waiting for the words to seep in, for the realization to hit. His mind wasn’t working properly, god, was he even hearing this correctly? But Noel was staring back at him, that brightness in his eyes partially extinguished as he waited for a reply.

Maybe it had been the alcohol. Maybe it had been his heart finally pulling the strings. Either way, Cody breathed, “Kiss me.”

ONE THING

Cody stares at Sam in shock. “Oh,” is all he manages to get out. This is much, much worse than he anticipated.

Sam rolls his eyes. “Yeah. _Oh_.”

“Noel likes me?”

“Oh my god,” Sam mutters, slapping his hand over his face. “Are you fucking kidding me? How could you _not_ have noticed?”

“I—I don’t know, what should I have noticed, man! He—”

“He walked you to class even when his own lectures were starting at the same time and he had to be on the other side of campus. He skipped classes to spend time with you, to get coffee or study in the library or whatever the fuck. He’s always looking at you with heart eyes. Dude, are you blind?”

Cody’s mouth is agape.

He doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t really know what to feel, either. Sam is just staring at him, waiting for an answer, but what is he supposed to tell him? Noel _likes him_.

“I have to go,” Cody gets out, rushing to his feet and almost knocking over his chair. He has to talk to Noel.

“Where are you going?” Sam calls after him, but Cody just shakes his head, taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing Cassius’ number. Noel probably wouldn’t answer if he called, anyway.

Which makes sense. Fuck, it all makes sense. How could he have forgotten that he kissed Noel?

“Hey,” he says the moment Cash picks up the phone, not giving him a chance to say anything before he asks, “Do you know where Noel is?”

“Uh, I don’t know, probably in our dorm,” Cash says, sounding confused. “But to be honest, I don’t think he really wants to see you—”

“I _need_ to speak to him, Cash, it’s urgent. Is he at his dorm?”

“I’m not there right now, but yeah, I think so.”

Cody lets out a long breath. “Okay, thanks. I’ll explain later, sorry for bothering you,” he says before ending the call. He pockets his phone, taking long strides to get across the campus as fast as possible.

What is he even going to say to Noel? _Sorry for forgetting we kissed? Sorry for not remembering your confession about you liking me?_

More importantly, what is he going to do? Noel likes him. What is he supposed to do with that?

So many questions, so little answers. Cody throws his head back and groans, breath clouding in front of him.

He likes Noel too. _Of course_ he likes Noel. It just hasn’t hit him until now.

Suddenly it makes sense, how his limbs tingled every time he saw Noel, how his heart skipped a beat every time their hands brushed, how he looked for Noel in every room he entered. The way Noel makes him smile like no one else does, the way Noel makes him feel whenever he’s got his undivided attention, the way he cares about Noel.

He’s been blind. More so to his own feelings than anything else. God, he’s a real idiot, isn’t he?

Someone leaves the building right as Cody walks up, so he rushes in right before the door clicks back into the lock. He takes the stairs two steps at the time, too impatient for the elevator, and it’s only three flights anyway.

His fists pound on Noel’s door, impatient, unwavering, unable to wait to see his face and tell him everything he’s just realized.

Noel opens the door, a little bleary-eyed, and something in his gaze is distant when he meets Cody’s.

“Hey, man. What’s going on?” Noel says, leaving the door open and retreating back into his room.

Cody stands in the doorpost, suddenly unsure of what to say and how to act. He stares at Noel, who frowns at his silence. Then he breathes, “Kiss me.”

Noel’s eyebrows fly up. “What?”

Cody takes a step forward. “Kiss me,” he says again. “I’m an idiot, and I forgot half of the stuff that happened at the party, but I know that I like you too and I want you to kiss me.”

“You forgot what happened at the party?” Noel says, and Cody groans but sits down next to Noel on his bed.

“That’s what you took from what I just said?” he mutters. “Yeah, I forgot what happened. I was so confused why you were so distant to me all of a sudden, because I quite literally couldn’t remember the things that had happened during the party. Between us, I mean.”

“And you suddenly remembered? You had an epiphany or what?” Noel sounds pretty disbelieving.

Cody’s cheeks tint red. “Uh, I—I talked to Sam, about how you had been avoiding me for the past two weeks. And then he showed me the messages you sent him. And then I remembered.”

Noel’s eyes widen, cheeks flushing as well. “You read the messages? Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah,” Cody says, rubbing the back of his neck. It’s quiet for a few seconds, then he softly asks, “Penny for a thought?”

Noel lets out a soft chuckle, inhaling deeply. “I’m thinking that I was angry at you, still kinda am, but that I was mostly just hurt because I thought you decided you didn’t like me back.”

Silence. Cody speaks up, “I’m thinking that I’m a fool for not being able to remember the kiss. I remember what happened right before, but the rest is just a blur. I’m thinking,” he mumbles, turning his head to glance at Noel, who’s already looking at him intently, “that I really, really want you to kiss me again.”

Noel’s eyes flicker from his eyes to his mouth before he bridges the gap between them, pressing his lips on his, soft at first, almost exploring, until he pulls back. “How was that?” He whispers, forehead pressed against Cody’s.

Cody still has his eyes closed. “Maybe you should do it again. Just in case I forget.”

Noel lets out what might be a laugh but it’s cut off as Cody kisses him once more, deepening the kiss. Noel’s tongue sweeps over his lower lip and he parts his mouth, granting him access. He shuffles over until he’s nearly sitting on Noel’s lap, and Noel intertwines his fingers behind his back before letting them rest around his waist.

Cody is out of breath by the time they pull back. When he opens his eyes, he finds Noel staring at him, something bright glimmering in his gaze. There’s an unspoken question in it.

“I don’t think I’ll forget that any time soon,” he whispers.

Noel lets out a loud laugh, untangling his fingers to brush a lost strand of hair out of Cody’s face. “I better hope not.”

Just for good measure, Cody kisses him again.

**Author's Note:**

> legend has it cody still has noel's hoodie in his dorm,,,
> 
> thank you for reading!! leave a comment (!!!!) or find me on tumblr / twitter @sundaycore
> 
> ღ marise


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